T/c group for Maronite return to their villages under their administration

Turkish Cypriot newspaper Kibris Postasi has revived the issue of the return of Maronites to their villages under Turkish Cypriot administration reporting on an announcement by the ‘Union of Economic and Business Investors’ which said that although the so-called government and Turkey fully support this issue, a decision on the return of Maronites which was taken about a year ago has not yet been implemented.

According to the announcement, the decision’s implementation will be very beneficial to the Turkish Cypriots since it would prove that ‘the rule of law applies to an unrecognised state, adding that this would strengthen the Turkish Cypriot side in its struggle to become ‘accepted’ within the international community.

The ‘Union of Economic and Business Investors’ also claims that the implementation of the decision on the return of the Maronites to their villages in the occupied areas of Cyprus would also be another important step towards integration with international law.

The organisation also claims that a further delay of the decision’s implementation will prove that ‘fascist and reactionary circles on both sides of the island are in full co-operation’.

The issue of the opening of Maronite villages under today’s Turkish Cypriot administration was introduced last year after the failure of the talks at Crans-Montana.

Two out of the four Maronite villages Agia Marina and Asomatos are currently military camps and th return of their legal inhabitants requires the relocation of Turkish troops.

Currently many Maronites live in the other two villages, Kormakitis and Karpasha, of which 100 resettled there over the past couple of years following a new support scheme announced by the Republic of Cyprus to encourage the enclaved to return to their villages in the north.